We’ve rounded up the ones we love all year round – but never more so than in the winter. After all, properly done, Scandi-style interiors can almost convince us that we are, in fact, keeping toasty by the fireside inside a log cabin on the edge of a Norwegian forest while outside the snow flutters down. Almost.
HAY
HAY co-founders and creative directors Mette and Rolf Hay believe that good design is a right that should be available to everyone. From their Denmark base, they work with designers from all over the world to create products – from furniture to accessories – that are that happy combination: both useful and beautiful. We love HAY’s coffee pot and mugs – exactly the right combination of colour-popping cheer and hygge. Explore the range here.
Hem
The Stockholm-based Hem works with simpatico designers to create its products, which are made sustainably in European factories. Faye Toogood and Max Lamb are amongst those whose work makes the cut and lives up to its tagline: ‘Imaginative designs of obsessive quality.’ Explore the range here.
Ferm Living
Copenhagen-based Ferm Living is the brainchild of Trine Andersen, who founded the company in 2005 when she couldn’t find a wallpaper to fit her taste. Seventeen years later, she and her team of artisans – both in and out of house – continue to create beautiful and inspiring pieces that are easy on the eye and work beautifully well. They say, ‘As we navigate expectations and dreams in search of meaning and comfort, we long for a balanced life with room to be ourselves. A place where we can realise the true value of things and feel at home. Based on a passion for authentic design and with responsibility at the heart of every choice we make, we create honest products and calm environments that inspire you to balance the contrasts in life.’ Explore the range here.
Nordic Nest
If you’re looking for thousands of Scandi designers all under one roof, Nordic Nest provides just such a minimal yet hygge hub. With over 30 000 Scandinavian design products from over 200 brands, the Scandi-inclined will be in clover perusing the online aisles of this retailer, which stocks everything from tableware to rugs to Christmas decorations. Explore the range here.
Scandiborn
The Scandiborn story began in 2015, when its Peak District-based founders discovered that the Scandinavian-inspired pieces they had hoped to find as they decorated their nursery were in short supply. Today, it offers a wealth of eco-conscious pieces, all in soft, functional designs that invoke the Nordic spirit. Practical and perfect for interiors and baby gear alike. Explore the range here.
Skandium
From classic designers – Arne Jacobsen, Hans J Wegner et al – to the more modern – HAY, Gubi et cetera – Skandium presents a distillation of the very best modern Scandi designers. The result is a beautiful curation of products that tick both the form and function boxes. Explore the range here.
Normann Copenhagen
Uncompromisingly fuss-free, Normann Copenhagen’s furniture, lighting and accessories all have one thing that draw them together: an onus on banishing the superfluous and instead boiling a design down to its bare and beautiful bones – all executed in a neutral yet warm colour palette. Pure and simple. Explore the range here.
Nordic Knots
Nordic Knots started life in Stockholm in 2016, the brainchild of Fabian Berglund, Liza Laserow-Berglund and Felix Berglund. The trio’s founding principle was on delivering ‘the Scandinavian tradition of functional design with a minimalist aesthetic.’ Moreover, its ethically made rugs are inspired by the Nordic light and landscape, so homes all over the world can claim their slice of the Scandinavia. Explore the range here.
Muuto
Founded by Kristian Byrge and Peter Bonnen in 2006, this Copenhagen-based design studio with a Finnish name (Muuto means ‘new perspective’) works with designers worldwide to produce the full gamut of homeware, from clever storage to seating. They say, ‘You will know our design because it has muutos: objects made sublime through new perspectives, enjoyed across the world, representing the best of Scandinavian design today.’ Explore the range here.
By Nancy Alsop
November 2022
